$34,500 donor a natural resource

Screen grab from the Mid-Hudson Regional Economic Development Council website, as of 9/21/11 at 3:00 p.m., altered to highlight Taylor Biomass

James Taylor, III, the local businessman behind Taylor Biomass, is also one of the mid-Hudson’s representatives on the new Mid-Hudson Regional Economic Development Council.  The full list of representatives is available on their website, here.

Also on the website is a brief overview of some of the regional data and resources for our region.  The first category is “Natural Resources” (see picture above) and includes items such as the Esopus Creek and links to the Department of Environmental Conservation.

Surprisingly, Mr. Taylor’s latest business venture is listed as a natural resource.  The Newburgh Advocate sent an email and telephoned the regional council’s office last week.  The council contact is Aimee Vargas, who works for the Empire State Development Corporation.  The Newburgh Advocate asked for an explanation as to how Taylor Biomass could be understood as a “natural resource.”  Ms. Vargas did not respond.

Mr. Taylor has donated $34,500 to Andrew Cuomo’s campaign fund either personally or through Taylor Biomass since 2009.  When the contributions from Taylor Recycling (now run by Mr. Taylor’s children) and Mr. Taylor’s wife are included, the total is $58,000.

Campaign donations of Taylor Biomass and related parties, in dollars:

Donor 2009 2010 2011
Taylor Biomass – 5,000 2,500
Taylor, James 1,000 26,000 –
Taylor Recycling – 11,000 –
Taylor, Eileen – 8,500 5,000
Taylor, Tonya – 5,000 –

Regional Council Workshop Tomorrow

The public is invited to participate in a community workshop tomorrow, Thursday, September 22 at the Emergency Services Building in Goshen.  The workshop is from 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. Here is the direct link to rsvp.  There is also a survey soliciting feedback available here.

Newburgh’s loss is Harriman’s gain

The Old Navy store at the center of the Newburgh Mall

The Old Navy store at the center of the Newburgh Mall on Route 300 will be closing up shop.  September 27th is its last day.  Then, October 1 – October 2, there will be a grand opening at their new location in Harriman Commons, about five minutes from Woodbury Commons.

According to a source familiar with the new store, it will be larger and redesigned to be more of an “all-in-one” shopping experience with food and drinks for sale and entertainment for children.  It is a prototype for new Old Navy stores, with only a handful of similar stores in New York State.

The move will be a blow to the Newburgh Mall, where the store has been anchored for years.

On the plus side, the new Harriman store is hiring.  Interested applicants can apply online at www.gapinc.com.

Spot the difference

2011 MA Development Perkins Eastman rendering of Broadway front

 

2009 Robert Carchietta Perkins Eastman rendering of Broadway front

2011 MA Development Perkins Eastman rendering of Broadway side view

 

2009 Robert Carchietta Perkins Eastman rendering of Broadway side view

The 2011 images (the top ones) come from a submission by M.A. Development and Perkins Eastman in answer to a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) put out by the City of Newburgh.  To view information about all six respondents, click here.

The 2009 images (the bottom ones) come from a submission by Robert Carchietta and Perkins Eastman in answer to a Request for Qualifications issued by the City in 2009.

The contact person for M.A. Development, Mr. Henry, did not respond to a request for comment as to how his renderings appear to be the same as Mr. Carchietta’s, or whether Mr. Carchietta is in any way involved with his team.

Stephen Yates, Senior Associate and Director of Communications for Perkins Eastman, deferred to Mr. Henry, writing that “I will have to defer to Joseph Henry at M.A. Development on these questions, unfortunately we are not able to answer them.”

Mid-Broadway Business District on the agenda for Thursday

According to the Work Session tentative agenda, four developers for the Mid-Broadway Business District will give presentations Thursday night, not including M.A. Development.

Included in that tentative agenda is a memo from Planning Department Director Ed Lynch about the process of selecting four developers from the original six.

M.A. Development was dismissed for being overly ambitious, including the acquisition of properties surrounding the city’s proposed property.  Mr. Lynch writes,

The developer stated that if it was unable to acquire the 16+ privately owned properties at fair market value, the City needed to use its eminent domain powers.  The exercise of eminent domain powers without the benefit of an Urban Renewal Area designation has not been successful in New York State.  The creation of an Urban Renewal Area and the inclusion of privately owned properties was viewed as being undesirable.

Eminent domain was also one of the contentious issues when Carchietta’s lot (now named the Mid-Broadway Business District) was under consideration for the campus of SUNY Orange in 2006.  That year, the City hired Perkins Eastman to do its own site selection evaluation.

Who’s on the shortlist

Still in consideration is Vincent Cappelletti’s Newburgh Commercial Development Corporation, even though their submission was only two pages.  Cappelletti made a proposal in 2009, which was thrown out, along with Carchietta’s and Jerry Sanchez’s.

The other three developers who will be presenting are first place Wallison Corp. (Bronx) second place Poko Partners LLC (Port Chester NY)  with The Kretchmer Companies, LLC (New York City) and third place Mill Street Partners, LLC (New York City) with RECAP (Middletown) and CPC Resources, Inc. (New York City).

Additional information on these developers is available here.

 

8.5.11: Update on Perkins Eastman Renderings

I have been informed that architects generally retain intellectual property rights of their plans, and that a client will pay for a one-time use.  While it is impossible to know what happened in the case above, since the involved parties are declining comment, theoretically one possibility would be Perkins Eastman found a new developer, MA Development, after Mr. Carchietta’s attempt didn’t pan out, and simply recycled that work.  Thus, it may be the case that Mr. Carchietta has no connection to the 2011 proposal.